Check out our AJC staff picks for best summer reads and read excerpts from Mary Kay Andrews' "Save the Date" and Greg Iles' "Natchez Burning."
There’s nothing like a summer beach read, that perfect page-turner full of colorful characters and plot twists that keeps you up late at night or by the pool longer than you’d planned because you couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. Whether lolling in a hammock in the mountains, dipping your toes in the surf at the beach or taking a staycation in the backyard, here are seven new novels by Southern authors aiming to keep you entertained while the season flies by. …
“The House on Mermaid Point” by Wendy Wax
“Do Over” is the name of the home-makeover reality show that Madeline Singer works for, and it’s an apt description of the freshly divorced 51-year-old’s stage in life. Along with friends Avery and Nikki, she heads for the Florida Keys to help transform a home into a B&B for a mysterious owner — who turns out to be her teenage crush, past-his-prime rock star “William the Wild” Hightower.
Penguin, July 1
“Bluff City Pawn” by Stephen Schottenfeld
Old family dynamics resurface when Memphis pawnshop owner Huddy Marr enlists his brothers’ help to buy and transport a large and valuable gun collection, which he plans to sell to bankroll moving his store to a better part of town. A thriller about the haves and have-nots, and the desperation that sometimes fuels the drive to get ahead.
Bloomsbury, Aug. 5
“A Long Time Gone” by Karen White
When a violent storm reveals the remains of a woman long buried near her family home in the Mississippi Delta, Vivien Walker becomes determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and the secrets that have gripped her family of tragic women for generations.
New American Library, June 3
“All I Have in This World” by Michael Parker
A 1984 Buick Electra for sale at a used-car lot in Texas brings together two strangers in desperate need of a ride. Marcus is running from failure and Maria is on her way back to make amends. Together they hit the road, headed for salvation.
Algonquin Books
“Save the Date” by Mary Kay Andrews
Savannah florist Cara Kryzik is burned out on love, but she’s determined to make the wedding of her high society clients a dream come true. Thing go awry when she starts to fall for a meet-cute “dognapper” and a chic new competitor sets out to ruin everything.
St. Martin’s Press, June 3
“Natchez Burning” by Greg Iles
When a beloved small-town doctor in Natchez, Miss., is accused of murdering his African-American nurse, his son, a crusading prosecutor, sets out to prove his father’s innocence. But the more he digs into his family’s sordid history and several unsolved murders in the ’60s, the more he questions the honor of his family name. The first in a trilogy that spans 40 years.
HarperCollins
“The Stories We Tell” by Patti Callahan Henry
Eve Morrison’s world comes crashing down when she tries to uncover the mysterious circumstances surrounding an automobile accident that injured her fragile sister and her successful, combative husband. Adding to the tensions tearing this family apart are the rebellious antics of the Morrisons’ teenage daughter.
St. Martin’s Press, June 24
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